Irish creches

[smurfette]

Has anyone over there seen the reports on crèches (nurseries) here in Ireland .. Don't know if it made international news but its causing mayhem here! An undercover reporter from the rte channel, (someone who was training in childcare) got a job in five different crèche chains and three of them were featured in what can only be described as horrific footage that was shown last night. Apparently a lot of our crèches breach regulations with regard to child/staff ratios, the number of staff trained (they apparently only have to aim for 50% of staff being trained!) , and children's emotional social and physical development,
The footage showed little ones being strapped into chairs for more than 2 hours at a time, shouted and cursed at, flung onto mattresses onto floors and no affection or warmth being shown towards them.. Staff were stressed because they had too many little ones to deal with but also obviously the attitude came down from management. The hse who is our inspecting body apparently don't inspect all crèches and those they do, not often enough and usually pre warn the crèches they are coming! So staff were doctoring the daily diaries (and in some cases filling them in at 11am for the day!) and the attendance register (cos we have a free playschool year but kids have to attend a certain amount of days for crèches to get the funding)

Have to say it was on my mind last night all night I didn't sleep well

[ziggy]

when i moved here from england in 2003 i worked in a creche over the border in co. donegal.

The staff were amazing and the creche was newly built

BUT ratios were ignored, I was on my own with up to 7 children aged 1 to 2yrs!!!!!! The younger children played outside with the pre-school children, the outside area wasnt fenced off, so watching up to 25 children under 5 was a nightmare. When a toddler needed a nappy change i had to go to baby room and leave toddlers while pre-school staff 'kept an eye on them'. The cook used cheapest ingredients possible for meals each day. Staff only got a 30min lunch break, no coffee breaks, we just grabbed a hot drink while children were having their snack.

Staff had to clean rooms while children were in them. Young girl in baby room was expected to mop floors while babies were still there during last 30mins of the day and was severely told off one day for not doing it properly. The manager/owner watched us all on cameras in the office and was quick to complain. We even had to clean the toilet in her office while children were left with other staff!

During my time there staff were wonderful with children and luckily i only worked mornings but i knew i couldnt give adequate care working in such a place. When I gave notice i explained why I was leaving but manager wasnt interested.

I was hoping since then it may have improved but maybe not.

[smurfette]

I had similar experiences in many crèches I worked in too, and that is also why I left.. I did work in one fab one, but it unfortunately seemed an exception. This is also going back fifteen years plus and I also wasn't able to give the care I wanted to there. Things don't seem to have changed

I already have had three enquiries today! Sad the poor parents feel so worried leaving their little ones while they go to work

[jackie 7]

I am in Dublin at the moment but I didn't watch the program yet. The papers are full of it. For dome owners ratios are of little importance. The staff being told to lead the extra children through other rooms and hiding outside when inspectors came was terrible.

[smurfette]

I am in Dublin at the moment but I didn't watch the program yet. The papers are full of it. For dome owners ratios are of little importance. The staff being told to lead the extra children through other rooms and hiding outside when inspectors came was terrible.

It's not going to be shown again, the parents requested only to be shown once

[zippy]

Can we not watch a copy of it anywhere, what about you tube is it in there

[CLL]

Sounds awful. I would be heartbroken if I thought my child had been treated so badly. I sent my son to daycare when I went back to work. It was a good surestart and cost £900 per month but he still only lasted 4 months. He cried all the time and I was so miserable I gave up work and became a SAHM. Some of the other cheaper ones I visited were just nasty. I cried in one of them. It makes me so sad that things are just going to get worse when Truss adds 50% more workload to the staff.

[oxfordshirecm]

i have not heard anything in the news yet_ but there have been plenty in regards to the uk nurseries- the world is so scary nowadays

[smurfette]

Here is the link now seems to have got out. http://touch.dailymotion.com/video/x10bq85_rte-primetime-breach-of-trust-28-05-2013_news

[Supernanny86]

I know this is not isolated to Ireland but this was a very distressing documentary. The way the children were thrown about, expected to sleep, and sat for ages was shocking. Makes me sad people treat kids like this. :( :( :(

[blue bear]

Really hard to watch, those poor little ones I was flinching when they got shouted at goodness knows how they were feeling.
Battery hen care springs to mind.

[zippy]

Thankyou for link, made pretty distressing watching, can't believe how long they were made to sit for, don't think I saw anything at any point for the children to play with on those tables, and their treatment at bedtime was totally shocking even apart from that how on earth they are suppose to sleep with that music so loud ill never know. I'm sure truss mentioned something like even Ireland has higher ratios than us, and yeah look what you get, no thanks.

[smurfette]

This is it exactly
Zippy, not in any way condoning how those workers treated the kids it's horrific, (worst part was them throwing the kids around like rag dolls and those poor mites trying to walk with their chairs attached for them) but part of the problem is they are obviously stressed trying to deal with too many kids .. Our crèche ratios are one adult to three under ones, six toddlers or eight preschoolers .. And obviously a lot of crèches are well over that at times

[Kiddleywinks]

Horrendous behaviour from so called 'care providers' :panic:

Those poor babies :(

[scottishlass]

Not an easy watch - can you imagine being spoken to like that every day

[tess1981]

I worked in a creche and didnt like it. as mentioned before staff had 30mins lunch and tea/coffee in the same room as the kids while snacks served.
the staff treated the kids as numbers, no love time or affection for them if it rained the children were in 1 room ALL day... how is this good for children???